Display cases, also known as showcases, are widely used for displaying high-value articles such as jewelry, coins, electronics, cameras, etc. It is readily understood that the typical display case having one or more glass windows is particularly susceptible to theft wherein the criminal smashes the glass and removes as many valuable articles as possible before escaping. Due to the frequency of such “smash and grab” crimes, most retailers choose to remove high-value goods from their display cases at the close of business daily and relocate the merchandise into more secure storage. Unfortunately, the routine transfer of merchandise between the display case and storage causes many problems of its own, not the least of which is the increased labor required to perform the work.
Other problems include increased wear and tear on the merchandise and display fixtures, and increase problems with inventory and loss control.
Conventional display showcases having a theft preventing mechanism use a heavy steel sheet that needs to be manually positioned on top of the showcase to separate the glass portion of the showcase and the valuable goods. This operation is tedious, requires significant strength and may cause back injuries. The protective steel sheet, when moving between the stored position and the goods-protecting position, extends outside the perimeter of the display showcase. More floor space than the actual size of the showcase is required. This prevents the display showcase to be easily activated in a tight space.
Improvements in such showcases included providing a showcase with a housing that includes an lower storage section having an exterior obscuring wall and a fully enclosable display section mounted above the lower section. A platform is mounted within the lower storage section in order to be selectively raised into the display section for displaying items disposed thereon. A closure was provided to be selectively interposed between the display and storage sections. Such closures include conventional heavy panels which are inconvenient as explained above.